March 13, 2011

TERA(KR) to Introduce the Political System on March 17

The next-gen MMORPG TERA published by Korea-based NHN's Hangame and developed by Bluehole Studio is going to carry out an update called "Arousal" on March 17.

Through the update on March 17, TERA will lower the difficulty level of some hunting areas in the wild, enhance the auxiliary classes' abilities, and add a political system as well. First, in terms of the difficulty level adjustments, 10 hunting areas that used to fit group play will become suitable for solo play, and 2~3 players will also be able to hunt in the hunting areas that used to require 3+ hunters.

Second, the formerly controversial auxiliary classes including Priest and Elementalist will be greatly improved in abilities. Specifically, Priest will be updated by adding new attack skills and enhancing existing skills respectively on March 17 and March 24, and Elementalist's relevant stats and certain skills will be strengthened.

Last but not least, the political system highly anticipated by players will be introduced into the game through this update. Starting from March 19, players on the various territories (over 10 territories on each server) can vote for their territory lords and can also sign up as the first lord candidates. The lords finally selected will hold their office for 3 weeks, and during this term, they can exercise their exclusive powers.
The Political System

Players in a given area have a right to vote, and the right to be nominated to become a lord – called a Vanark – within the region. Players gunning for lordship can also earn nominations through PvP, in case stuffy, pencil-neck politicking isn’t their cup of tea.

Now, Vanarks within a city are eligible to become King. An election is held among Vanark for this position, but the perks are pretty interesting:

Kings control tax-rates within their region. Kings looking to strike it rich can actually bleed their citizens dry if they so wish.
Kings also dictate spawn rates for enemy monsters in different regions of these territory. Decreasing or increasing the spawn rates in one area has adverse effects on rates in other regions.

There are three capitals cities at the moment (which means three Kings), but it seems this will be expanded in the future, to accommodate more Kings.